Michael Paul Speidel (born May 25, 1937) is a German-born American military historian and archaeologist who specializes in the study of the

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

and

ancient warfare Ancient warfare is war that was conducted from the beginning of recorded history to the end of the ancient period. The difference between prehistoric and ancient warfare is more organization oriented than technology oriented. The development of ...

. He is considered one of the world's foremost experts on ancient warfare.

Biography

Michael Paul Speidel was born in

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the ...

, Germany on May 25, 1937. His nephew

Michael Alexander Speidel Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

is also a historian. Speidel received his Ph.D. in ancient history from the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

in 1962. His Ph.D. thesis was on the Emperor's Guard. He then went to the United States to lecture ancient history. In 1968 Speidel became Associate Professor at the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. He has since been promoted to Full Professor at the university, where he teaches the history of

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, the ancient

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

, the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

, the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

, and world cultures. Now Professor Emeritus, he is a member of the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office, Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Status, tasks and ...

. Speidel specializes in the study of the

, particularly its

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

, on which he has written a number of books. In recent years, Speidel has conducted extensive archaeological research on the warfare of ancient

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

and ancient Germanic mythology. He is considered one of the world's foremost experts on ancient warfare.

Selected works

* ''Die Equites singulares Augusti'', 1965 * ''Guards of the Roman Armies'', 1978 * ''Iuppiter Dolichenus'', 1980 * ''Roman Army Studies'', 1982-1992 * ''Commodus the God-Emperor and the Army'', 1993 * ''Die Denkmäler der Kaiserreiter: Equites singulares Augusti'', 1994 * ''Riding for Caesar: The Roman Emperors’ Horse Guards'', 1994 * ''Ancient Germanic Warriors: Warrior Styles from Trajan’s Column to Icelandic Sagas'', 2004 * ''Emperor Hadrian’s speeches to the African Army: A New Text'', 2007 * ''Dawn of Japan. Emperor, Gods, and Warriors on Jimmu’s Mirror'', 2010

References

1937 births American archaeologists American military historians Emigrants from West Germany to the United States Living people People from Pforzheim University of Freiburg alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty {{academic-bio-stub